Fifth wheel helper

ABSTRACT

A tool to be used with fifth wheels, comprising of a solid piece of material approximately seventeen inches and five centimeters in length and roughly three inches and five centimeters tall. With an angled front that allows easy use in situations involving a king pin of a commercial towing unit becoming stuck behind a fifth wheel. An indentation on the bottom allows for security to the frame of the towing unit and a safety bolt allows for locking protection.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The current invention relates to systems for releasing a towingunit from a towed unit, e.g., a trailer. In particular, the invention isadapted to assist the driver of a towing unit with releasing a king pinof the trailer from a locked position behind the fifth wheel of thecommercial towing unit.

2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0002] The interlocking apparatus is comprised of components on both thetruck and the trailer, which mate to achieve a mechanical connection.Typically, the truck is equipped with a locking assembly, known in theheavy trucking industry as a fifth wheel hitch, and an apparatus mountedto the trailer, known in the industry as a king pin. The king pinextends downwardly, perpendicular to the bolster plate to which it isattached, the bolster plate being mounted to the bottom surface of thetrailer. The fifth wheel hitch includes a hitch plate having a throatwith its open end facing reward to receive the king pin, and a lockingmechanism for locking the throat of the hitch plate.

[0003] To couple a vehicle, such as a commercial truck, to a trailer,the driver must continually estimate the position of the vehicle,relative to the trailer, while maneuvering the vehicle into alignmentwith the trailer. In practice, this may involve exiting the truck todetermine the position of the truck relative to the trailer and thenre-entering the truck to maneuver it into alignment. In addition, thedriver utilizes his rear view side mirrors to approximate the lateralalignment between the truck and trailer, while vertical alignment isoften judged only by “feel,” or guess. Such practice often leads to highor low coupling and, possibly, lateral misalignment between the truckand trailer.

[0004] When backing up the towing unit, the driver often experiencesdifficulty in aligning the throat of the hitch plate with the king pin.For instance, the height of the king pin relative to the throat may besuch that proper mating between the two will not be achieved, eventhough the two may be laterally aligned. In these instances, the frontlower edge of the trailer may crash into the fifth wheel hitch plate(trailer and king pin to low) or the cab of the truck may crash into thebody of the trailer (trailer and king pin to high). With an optimumconnection, the weight of the trailer will rest upon the fifth wheel,which inherently has a downward angle. As the trailer weight is applied,the angle of the fifth wheel will flatten Out into a horizontal positionbeneath the trailer and match the afore mentioned bolster plate.

[0005] However, it is the situation of having a king pin trapped behinda fifth wheel that paves the way for the current invention. When the cabof a truck is driven back far enough to hit the front portion of thetrailer, a situation arises where the king pin is locked behind thefifth wheel. This occurs because the fifth wheel is mounted with apivotal motion that allows the trailer weight to flatten out the weightof the fifth wheel. When the king pin is slightly higher than the openreceiving portion of the fifth wheel, the king pin will maintain enoughweight to force the fifth wheel to horizontally position itself.However, at such time as this occurs, the king pin will not lock, butrather pass over the top of the fifth wheel. This gives way to the fifthwheels spring action, which will cause the standard rear-facing angle toresume. At this point, the king pin is locked and can no longer becomefree of the fifth wheel without further human assistance.

[0006] The most common remedy for this situation involves a set ofrather dangerous circumstances. A second person must assist the driverby standing in the rear of the towing unit, usually between the sets ofrear tires. This is due to the natural slant of the fifth wheel thatmust be forced into a horizontal position. The second person must pushthe rear of the fifth wheel in a downward direction, or lift the frontin an upward direction. Commonly a crow bar or scrap metal is used inorder to cause the pivotal fifth wheel to lie back in the horizontalposition. Meanwhile, the driver pulls forward unable to see the personassisting them because the standing location is a blind spot for thedriver. The potential for accidents is high and the results desired arenot always guaranteed.

[0007] In the event that the prior remedy should fail, Hi-lows arepulled off of the job and placed on either side of the trailer in orderto lift it far enough for the driver to pull the truck forward andrelease the king pin. The final alternative is attaching a wrecker tothe front portion of the trailer and raising the king pin thus, allowingthe driver to pull forward. Both situations give rise to wasted time andmoney for the driver and for the workers being pulled off of their jobs.

[0008] As the case is once in a while, the driver of a commercialvehicle could be picking up after working hours. In the event that aking pin is locked; a driver could be stuck for hours waiting forsomeone to come along and help. This causes unnecessary frustration onthe driver and a time restraint on meeting a deadline for delivery oftenassociated with the trucking industry.

[0009] As a result, systems have been developed to provide an outputsignal to the driver indicating the position of the truck relative tothe trailer. Notably, known systems are targeted toward “ball and hitch”coupling market and are not easily adaptable to the heavy truckingindustry.

[0010] Known alignment systems use a variety of technologies to measurelateral offset and vertical alignment. Primarily, these systems utilizeinfrared sensor technology with a modulated pulsed beam. As such, thesesystems are limited in range (typically less than 20 feet) and requireseparate sets of infrared sensors on the towing and towed units,respectively, to indicate the lateral offset and vertical alignment.Also, because the infrared emitters and sensors are required on both thetowing and towed units, the system must include a remote, poweredtransmitter on the towed unit. Clearly, these systems are limited intheir application, inconvenient, and relatively expensive. In addition,should the maneuvering system fail, there is no safe procedure forreleasing the trapped king pin.

3. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The fifth wheel helper is designed to assist the driver of acommercial towing unit with the ability to release a locked king pinwithout the assistance of another person. Quite simply, the fifth wheelhelper attaches to the frame of a towing unit just under the fifthwheel. Thus, causing the fifth wheel to lay in a horizontal positionflush under the king pin. This allows the driver to pull safely forwardwithout fear of another person physically holding the fifth wheel in thehorizontal position.

[0012] The physical structure of the fifth wheel helper is a metalreinforced two by four block of wood. A second embodiment would be ofhard plastic, or steel. One side is angled to slide under the fifthwheel and an indentation on the under side allows the invention to reston the frame of the towing unit. Due to potential variations in framesize, a locking bolt is in place to tighten the grip of the fifth wheelhelper to the frame. This is to prevent the fifth wheel helper fromfalling while the driver is pulling forward.

[0013] The main objective of the fifth wheel helper is to promote safetyin the joining procedure between the towing unit and the commercialtrailer, once a locked king pin situation arises. The opportunity forloosing limbs or life is too high when a second person must stand in thedriver's blind spot between sets of tires.

[0014] Additional safety is obtained when thought is directed towardsthe hours of wasted time that truck drivers must make up in order tobeat deadlines. A rushed freight driver is a dangerous hazard to thesafety of not only themselves, but other road traffic as well.

4. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015]FIG. 1 is the main side perspective of the fifth wheel helper

5. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0016] The main perspective of the current invention is portrayed inFIG. 1. The main body is a two by four block of wood measuring aboutseventeen inches and five centimeters in length. As shown by FIG. 1, thefront portion is angled so as to slide under the front portion of thefifth wheel. The indentation on the underside is positioned to hold thefifth wheel helper to the frame of the truck beneath the fifth wheelitself. The indentation prevents any slipping to the left or right, rearor frontal angles that a regular board may be inclined to do. Thefour-inch safety bolt is a safety measure to lock the fifth wheel helperto the frame of the truck.

1. A wedging instrument for fifth wheels, comprising: (a) a solid piece of material approximately seventeen inches and five centimeters in length and roughly three inches and five centimeters tall (b) angled from the front, on an upward slope and reaching a level plain at about seven and a half inches (c) with an indentation bottom side close to one inch deep and five and a half inches wide that is penetrated by a safety bolt from the back. A solid piece of material that will: (a) disengage the fifth wheel when it becomes interlocked with a semi trailer, (b) allow drivers the ability to release their commercial towing units from trailers without the assistance of others. 